Author's Notes: This is not my best detailed work or highest quality writing, nor was it meant to be. This was just an Akatsuki vision that came to me one day that grew into insane proportions. It may have been a dream I had.

-

-

-

Near the village of the Hidden Mist on an overview cliff, there stood a lone figure. Small, lithe, almost humble, as the figure stood in a contemplative and respectable stance. Nothing about the figure gave off a hint of any incredible power or dangerous motive.

Nothing except the red and black cloak and straw hat that the figure wore, signifying the figure as a member of Akatsuki.

Finally, after a long moment, the figure turned away from the view of the village and moved with purpose towards a specific location, with slow, deliberate, and still respectful movement. You would think it was as if the Akatsuki has his guard down, which of course he most certainly did not.

After a moment, the Akatsuki came across a single grave dug into the ground. A mound of dirt, a cross with a mist headband draped across it, and a huge zanbato marked the not so innocuous grave. The Akatsuki reached within his cloak and removed a food offering. He knelt down, and after placing the offering, removed his straw hat, revealing a young, yet tired face, with alert eyes but a warm smile.

"Good morning, Zabuza-sama."

No sooner after Haku tilted his head down to pray for a moment that, for a split second, he stiffened.

With no time and effort on his part, Haku willed the morning dew to fire. Like spring-loaded senbon, minute ice needles shot from the trees and grass at the intruder-

Haku willed the needles to stop after realizing who it was, the needles stopping in midair, rotating around the figure as if trying to decipher weak points of the huge and massive figure, dressed in an Akatsuki cloak, body seemingly encased in metal armor. The metal completely covering the giant trembled unstably, as if wanting desperately to explode, but not daring to.

Haku glared with narrow eyes at the other Akatsuki, the ground beneath the two freezing over in ice. His expression was as cold as the ice he wielded.

"Don't you dare bring your filthy girth any closer to Zabuza-sama, Akimichi."

Haku did not like the gluttonous Akatsuki member, Akimichi Chouji, who was known best for two things. One, his ungodly strength was honed and tempered to a fine, concentrated point, to the point where he could wield it any way he wished, but the sheer amount of excess energy in his poorly maintained body had to be sealed with both jutsus and a physical shell.

Two, Chouji had a notorious reputation as a cannibalizer of shinobi, living and dead, which he decided was his preferred food and chakra source.

Chouji chortled heartily, his mouth the only visible part of his face, digging a finger into his rotten teeth. "Is that why you think I'm here? I'm not interested in touching your precious dead Zabusa. Too old, too gamey, too many predator hormones, hehehe…" Chouji scratched his sensitive armored belly, letting out a belch. "You know you're acting out of protocol, Haku."

Haku turned back to the grave, withdrawing his ice and power from the area. "Uzumaki-san will understand. That's all that matters." He inclined his head. "Why did you come here, Akimichi-san?"

"I came to tell you that-

Chouji, with a speed and grace that belied his size, punched a massive fist into the ground. Several meters away, the force of Chouji's punch obliterated a small portion of forest, like concentrated dynamite.

"…We've been spotted… I came to tell you that Uzumaki-san decided we need to be on the move."

Haku looked confused. "All of us? So soon?"

Chouji shrugged. "I don't know what's going on, but his word is law."

Haku nodded and stood. Turning back to the grave, Haku bowed in apology. "Let us leave, Akimichi-san." And with that he was gone.

Chouji paused. The sky began raining with the remains of the obliterated shinobi. One piece stuck to the side of Chouji's head. Gleefully, he plucked off the chunk of bloody flesh and popped it into his mouth, before he too vanished.

-

Ping… ping… ping… ping…

Kin Tsuchi stood, dressed in an Akatsuki cloak and eyes closed in concentration. Her finger regularly flicking a sensitive bell apparatus attuned to her and her chakra, every two seconds. She stood upon a massive chakra lens, which displayed a vast map of the area that visibly rippled in tune with the bell ping.

Ping… ping… ping…

Dots began appearing on the outskirts of the sound map.

"Goddammit…" Kin grumbled before opening her eyes to the sound map she stood on. She raised her head and spoke aloud.

"Attention, fellow Akatsuki."

Kin showed no effort in altering and amplifying her voice, making it project and travel to all parts of the base.

"Uzumaki-san's suspicions have been confirmed. There's practically an army snooping around about 17 kilometers west of us. We move now. Warm her up, Aburame. Gaara, get her steady, we can't let her fall apart."

-

Gaara was in no hurry, but still moved with purpose to the base center, hand trailing the walls that dropped few sand grains. He technically didn't need to be present for mobilization, but he knew it meant much to Uzumaki to be physically present. He paid no mind to the coldly polite Haku who had just arrived. His only concern was maintaining the sand plates that composed their entire base.

The sand plates, and the kikai bugs speedily crawling in and out of them, circulating chakra and maintaining the pathways within.

Though he would never admit it, even Sabaku no Gaara was slightly unnerved by the Aburame, whose kikai were scattered throughout the base.

Shino was not psychotic. To be psychotic, you had to be human first.

Shino's mind was now so much more like that of an insect that he no longer even felt comfortable maintaining a human form, existing most of his time as a swarm.

It was an unspoken common courtesy towards Shino to not harm any insects they come across in the base, since they can never clearly tell whether it's Shino or not.

-

In contrast to his brother, Kankuro was in quite a hurry to get where he needed to go. The order caught him off guard, and he had to quickly eat to replenish his chakra, but the profanely obese Akimichi was hogging the fridge at the moment, so Kankuro was slightly late, eaten turkey leg in hand.

He abruptly stopped when he came right by a vast pitch-black space that he knew for a fact was supposed to be the Akatsuki library and data storage.

Scowling, he stopped as he peered hard into the pitch-black space, spotting the laid-back Nara Shikamaru sitting on the floor, reading. He wanted nothing more than to smack the skinny boy upside the head, but he dared not come within even a foot of the darkness.

"Hey, lazy ass, get to your post!"

Shikamaru had heard the order and heard Kankuro, but it all still annoyed him to be interrupted.

Sighing irritably, he holds up his left hand. "Cloak, please."

Kankuro couldn't even see the floor, let alone his cloak. "Get it yourself!"

"I wasn't talking to you," Shikamaru mildly shot back.

Kankuro more felt than saw the darkness shift around, and out of nowhere a red and black cloak was gently deposited into Shikamaru's hand. He stood and slipped on the cloak around his body, and once the cloak was firmly on him, the darkness all around shrunk and withdrew, retreating into Shikamaru's cloak, leaving in its wake a normal, undisturbed, and very, very clean library room.

Kankuro backed away and warily let Shikamaru through, remaining mindful of the shadows around him.

"You better finish that, Kankuro," he said, indicating the food. "You're gonna be late."

"Dammit!" With that, Kankuro got moving.

-

Yamanaka Ino with her power had long predicted and knew ahead of time of everyone else that they would need to move by orders of Uzumaki-san. Now she was just waiting outside the room of her partner.

After knocking numerous times, and calling her name, Ino finally lost her patience and stormed into the room of her psychotic friend.

Within the room was a vast field of blooming sakura trees. The sun was bright, but not hot, and a breeze blew scattering petals all around. It was beautiful, practically perfect.

And amid it all, a cheerful, primped up Haruno Sakura was dancing around and swooning over a certain raven-haired boy.

Ino glared at her in bitter disgust. "Forehead girl, snap out of it-

Sakura shrieked like a banshee, the beautiful and elaborate genjutsu fantasy transforming into a gray desolate and hungry land that stretched to swallow Ino whole-

Ino simply shut the door to Sakura's room and waited a little longer.

Finally, Sakura stormed out of the room, wearing her Akatsuki cloak, a cheery smile plastered on her face.

"Good morning, Ino!"

Ino just glared at her in distain, and turned away to quickly move down the sand corridor.

Sakura moved to catch up, not noticing Ino's displeasure and still wearing her intensely pleased expression. "So… any new thoughts from Sasuke?"

Ino shut her eyes in irritation. "No, Sakura, he's just thinking about his brother again, the usual stuff, like I keep telling you everyday."

"Oh, poop, so boring. He should think more about me!" Sakura beamed.

"Of course he should," Ino mumbled out, humoring her friend. She turned back all serious. "But hey, if you're so frustrated, why don't you just use some other man. I keep finding all these gorgeous men for you everyday-

"NOOO!!!" Sakura shrieked, lashing out at Ino who dodged. "No one else will do! I only want Sasuke, and Sasuke will be mine!" screamed Sakura, completely irrational. She gripped the front of Ino's cloak, making Ino a bit anxious. Sakura stared into her eyes with wide, broken eyes. "You're my best friend, Ino. You'll help me, won't you? You'll still keep in touch with his mind and tell me everything, yes? You'll help me, yes? Yes???"

Ino, calmly taking both of Sakura's hands, gave Sakura a fake smile. "Of course I will, Sakura. I always do and I always will. You'll get Sasuke someday, I promise."

"Thank you, Ino-Pig!" Sakura, all cheery and calm again, half-pranced down the sand corridor to their destination. "We better get going, Uzumaki-san said we have to get moving!"

Ino stood in place, staring at Sakura's back as she left, feeling nothing but hatred, yet sad pity, for her once sane friend. Sakura was always obsessive to a degree, but it was only two years ago when she truly snapped.

Feeling sad and bitter, Ino reached into her cloak and tightly gripped her broken shard necklace that she hid from Sakura at all times.

The broken metal shard from a forehead protector was all that remained of Uchiha Sasuke after Haruno Sakura so thoroughly obliterated him two years ago.

-

"Kankuro, we need to take off, now!" Kin's amplified voice reverberated through the base.

"Yeah yeah, don't get your panties in a twist," Kankuro grumbled.

"I heard that you son of a bitch!" she bit back, making Kankuro cringe, who mentally demanded why she had to say that for all to hear. Kin's voice continued, "Oh, and Gaara says to be more gentle this time around."

Kankuro simply grumbled as he got into position in his chamber and readied his chakra, firmly focused and concentrating. Of course he was going to be gentle, it was as much his work as it was Gaara's.

The Akatsuki base was constructed and regularly maintained through the combined efforts of Gaara, Shino, and Kankuro. It took them almost a year of straight work to build what was more a work of art to the three than simply a mere base.

Concentrating and coiling his power, Kankuro stretched.

Chakra threads shot out from fingertips, hands, joints, feet, even head, and dug and attached themselves firmly into the circular chamber where Kankuro operated. It took a few moments for his threads to become firmly rooted into the sand plates and chakra pathways.

Taking a careful, firm grip on his threads, Kankuro steadily pulled…

-

Outside, the forest trembled, which turned to rumbling and groans, like an earthquake were suddenly taking place. Mounds of earth and clumps of trees became displaced from the ground.

With a crackling roar, a vast, terrible sand construct tore itself away from the earth, like a giant ancient sea monster that beached itself on land. It moved slowly, carefully, unstoppable.

Impossibly, the construct slowly lifted off the ground. As it put more distance between itself and the earth, it gained in speed and lost more of its sluggishness.

It took flight over the forest, and flew into the clouds, only to disappear in a shimmer into nothing, a vast powerful genjutsu that surely only a demon could cast and maintain.

-

-

-

Author's Notes: The Akatsuki I presented here I feel were more meant to be symbolic exaggerations of their character and personas than to be actual players in a story. This was meant to be a single one-shot, but might expand it into other side story one-shots, maybe. If anyone feels like taking any templates from this story be my guest, though it'd be nice if you dropped me a memo telling me you did.